Miami Deferred Action (Acción Diferido) / Executive Order Attorneys

Presently, there is Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which
is executive immigration action (acción ejecutiva de inmigración)
to provide the deferral of deportation for certain individuals who arrived
in the United States before the age of 16. Now, President Obama has announced
that he will issue an executive order (order ejecutiva) to defer or stop
the removal of certain adults who meet proposed criteria.

Although some issues related to this plan are still unclear at this time,
here are the principal components:

President Obama's Immigration Plan

Here are the principal components of President Obama's immigration plan
as we currently understand them:

1.
Enforcement Priorities. Many of the existing memos on enforcement priorities and prosecutorial
discretion will be replaced by a new memo that will name three enforcement
priorities, which will be operational immediately:

People convicted of serious or multiple misdemeanors, and very recent entrants
(i.e., those who entered after 1/1/14);

Those who, after 1/1/14, failed to leave under a removal order or returned
after removal.

The memo will contain “strong language” on using prosecutorial
discretion appropriately. While most other memos on the subject will be
rescinded, the victims of crime memo and the USCIS memo on issuance of
NTAs will stand.

2.
Border Security. The Secretary of DHS will announce a South Border “command and
control” campaign to coordinate and better use resources at the border.

3.
State and Local. Secure Communities will be discontinued and replaced by a Priority Enforcement
Program (PEP). What it means that Secure Communities will be discontinued
is unclear. Unclear if they will stop fingerprinting people and unplug
the technology and interoperability of the federal and local databases.
Detainers will be discontinued for all except national security cases.
Instead of detainers, there will be a request for notification when a
law enforcement entity is about to release a convicted criminal.

4. Nothing on family detention will be included in this package.

5. No changes to Operation Streamline which targets immigration entry and
reentry for federal prosecution.

6. Two deferred action initiatives that combined are estimated to benefit
4.4 million:

Deferred Action for Parents (DAP). Parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (of any age,
including stepchildren where a parental relationship has been established
through marriage before their eighteenth birthday) who have been continuously
present since 1/1/10, and who pass background checks and pay taxes, will
be eligible to apply for deferred action, which will be granted for a
3-year period. The plan is to stand this up within 180 days (for applications
to be accepted). Note that parents of DACA recipients are not eligible.

Expansion of DACA. DACA will be revised to get rid of the age cap, and to change the date
that continuous presence must have started to 1/1/10. It also will be
granted for 3 years (including those with pending renewal applications).
Ready in 90 days.

7.
Pending Proceedings. There will be a review of cases currently under proceedings to see who
is prima facie eligible for the relief stated in this program, and those
cases will be closed.

8.
Immigration Court Reforms. There will be a package of immigration court reforms that will include
qualification of accredited representatives and ineffective assistance
of counsel issues.

9.
U/T Visas. Three more types of offenses will be added to the list of offenses for
which DOL can certify for U status. No specifics were available regarding
which offenses will be added. T visa eligibility may also come into play
with respect to DOL.

11.
Foreign Entrepreneurs. Certain investors will be able to be paroled into the U.S., or be granted
parole in place if already in the United States, for job creation (no
further details at this time). This will be done by regulation. Also,
entrepreneurs, researchers, inventors, and founders will be eligible for
national interest waivers. This will be implemented through policy guidance.

12.
Pre-registration for Adjustment of Status. Individuals with an approved employment-based immigrant petition who
are caught in the quota backlogs will be able to pre-register for adjustment
of status to obtain the benefits of a pending adjustment. This is expected
to impact about 410,000 people. This will be done by regulation.

13.
AC21. “Same or similar” will be clarified.

14.
L-1B. The guidance will be released.

15.
H-4 EADs. The regulation will be finalized, probably in December or January.

16.
OPT. The length of time in OPT for STEM graduates will be expanded and the
relationship between the student and the school will be strengthened for
this period. Other changes, such as allowing STEM OPT post-master’s
degree where only the first degree is in a STEM field is under consideration.
This will be done by regulation.

17.
PERM. A full rulemaking will be undertaken to modernize the PERM program.

18.
I-601a Waivers. The provisional waiver will be expanded to include spouses and children
of LPRs. The definition of extreme hardship will be expanded and clarified.

19.
Advance Parole. There will be a new advance parole memo that will address the issues
raised in
Matter of Arrabally-Yerrabelly and make clear that CBP should honor the advance paroles issued by USCIS.

20.
Parole in Place. PIP will be expanded to include families of individuals trying to enlist
in the armed forces.

21.
Visa Modernization. There will be a Presidential Memorandum directing the agencies to look
at modernizing the visa system, with a view to making optimal use of the
numbers of visa available under law. Issues such as whether derivatives
should be counted and whether past unused visa numbers can be recaptured
will be included in this effort.

22.
Integration. A second Presidential Memorandum will set up a Task Force on New Americans.

Contact Revilla Law Firm, P.A.

Contact the immigration attorneys at Revilla Law Firm, P.A., for any questions regarding this impending
executive action plan and how it could potentially impact your immigration
status. Our Miami immigration lawyers offer a free initial consultation
in our Miami office and will provide quality legal representation to help
you achieve the best outcome in your immigration case.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.